Despite a $1 million shortfall in incentives requested for an expansion it announced last year, Greensboro-based TIMCO Aviation Services is pushing ahead with plans for a $30 million aircraft maintenance hangar project by talking with commercial lenders and potential contractors.

The company’s efforts are a further indication that TIMCO has focused in on Greensboro as the home of its expansion expected to create up to 400 local jobs. Since last year, TIMCO has been considering Piedmont Triad International Airport, where the company already occupies more than 600,000 square feet of space, along with five other communities throughout the country.

Kip Blakely, TIMCO’s vice president of industry and government relations, said the company is now in talks with various lenders to secure $30 million of financing. He said TIMCO also is in talks with several companies to possibly build the facility. Constructing a new hangar at PTI would mean the airport would own the hangar itself, but Blakely said that fact hasn’t given builders pause.

“We’ve talked to a number of companies in state and out of state about their interest and willingness to build,” he said. “We still are in great, great need to have more capacity.”

Securing financing will dictate the exact timeline for the project, but Blakely said the next step would be to hire an architectural firm to draw up schematics by the summer before putting out a request for proposal to secure a contractor. The hope is to begin construction later this year.

TIMCO is moving forward on plans after working with the Piedmont Triad Airport Authority earlier this year to secure $6 million worth of incentives to finance site-prep costs needed the expansion.

Both the city and county approved a combined $800,000 worth of incentives while the state’s Division of Aviation committed $4 million. The Golden Leaf Foundation awarded $1 million to the airport authority toward TIMCO’s infrastructure needs. Airport officials had originally requested $2 million.

To make up for the $1 million shortfall, TIMCO is continuing efforts to seek funding from other sources, such as foundations. But the company also has been reevaluating the project to determine whether the $1 million is needed after all.

“We won’t know for sure until we get through this schematic drawing phase,” Blakely said.

Kevin Baker, the authority’s executive director, said he hopes that a $1 million shortfall would not put the brakes on the project.

But he said the hangar is still a “wait and see” prospect until the financing piece is nailed down.

“Right now the ball is in TIMCO’s court,” Baker said. “Certainly any way we can help them along the way, we are going to do that.”